Tech Forum

For many, many years, the Tithing Declaration Report has been due to the stake president by January 31. And ever since MLS also required the report to be electronically submitted, that due date has also been January 31.

However, in the 24 October 2014 letter from the Office of the Presiding Bishopric, that due date was quietly changed to January 15. The Help Center article "Prepare and Submit Tithing Reports" and the followup official letter dated 18 December 2014 are consistent in listing that same due date. But it does seem like a change in a due date that has been in place for so long would have merited some special notice of the change.

It's of course true that we should always read official letters carefully, but since these annual letters have been nearly identical for years, it's easy to gloss over them. My ward's clerks are very proactive and submitted the report by the 11th, but I wouldn't be surprised if some clerks missed the change in the due date.

On the forum, the only mention of the new due date that I can find was in this post, which mentioned the January 15 date without noting that it was a change from previous years. Interestingly, that post was added to an existing discussion (from 2008) that started with a complaint from someone saying that it was difficult to get all the wards in his stake to submit their reports by January 31. For such stakes, this year's deadline must have been even more challenging.

Several of the ward clerks in my stake are fairly new, so they wouldn't have noticed this change. At the beginning of January, I sent an e-mail to all the clerks and bishoprics listing all the reports due this month, including the Quarterly Report, the Tithing Declaration Report, and the beginning of the collection of the Annual History.

In addition, my stake is probably like most, in that the stake presidency asks the wards and branches for various monthly reports, which are above and beyond what the Handbook requires. As we discussed years ago, MLS (and now LCR) do not really provide tools that help to produce monthly reports. So they are an additional burden on the clerks. When I try to argue against these monthly reports, I am told that the Area Seventy has requested them. Oh well.

drepouille wrote:When I try to argue against these monthly reports, I am told that the Area Seventy has requested them. Oh well.

You might want to verify that they're actually being sent to him.

Oh yes. We beat up the clerks and the bishoprics every month for their reports, which we consolidate and forward up the chain.